“Monster Hunter: Wilds” performed strongly in the early days of its release, selling more than 8 million copies worldwide within three days, but the popularity did not last. According to foreign media Thegamer, less than three months after the game was launched, the number of concurrent online players on the Steam platform has plummeted from a peak of 1.384 million to 41,000, a drop of 97%, far exceeding the decline in the same period (92%) of “Monster Hunter: World” in the past seven years.
If you count the average number of players, the game still had 378,500 active players in March, but it has plummeted to 53,800 in the past 30 days, down 86% from the first week. This decline is not limited to Steam, and the data on console platforms may be even more severe.
Behind the loss of players is the collapse of the game’s reputation – the Steam praise rate is only 63%, a new low in the series. Many players criticized the update for “squeezing toothpaste”, lack of sincerity, and the rampant use of cheats to disrupt the racing experience, causing enthusiasm to fade quickly. The domestic and foreign communities expressed disappointment with the game’s operating strategy, and even bluntly said that they had “lost the motivation to continue playing”.
Although the loss of new players is the norm, such a drastic decline still raises concerns in the industry. Whether Capcom can recover from its decline through subsequent updates will be key to determining the long-term fate of Monster Hunter: Wilds.
